Fall Colors

Yesterday my husband took a walk around our property...he took loads of pictures. The colors around the pond are absolutely breath taking. Leaves are falling so walking is a shuffle through piles of leaves and the crunch is something you only hear in the fall.



This is a shot of the peninsula and the bench we keep over there. There are cranberries over behind the bench which we hand pick. Loads of princess pine covers the ground as well. We have flags hung along the road on the trees.

This is a gorgeous down the pond sight. These two trees are a glorious red.

Looks like this bird ignored the sign we have posted.


This is a great shot across the cove to our day cabin on our little island.

A couple of pictures of our peninsula from different angles.

A nice view down the pond from our island.

The road leading home...year round house on the right and the pond, island, and day cabin on the left...

A great old rock with moss growing in the cracks.

A quiet look at the pond.

A curve in the road with loads of ferns on the shoulders.

The sky's reflection made the leaves colors even more brilliant.

We call these the wedding trees. This is where we got married. We stood between these trees with our family and friends around and made our vows. Later we had a clambake and a live country western band...it was a great day. Kids swam and rowed the boats around....everyone dressed casually...no fuss...

Simply beautiful!

The dock to the cove.

Path at the far end of the island that leads to the wedding trees....

An old fish sign we found and hung on the day cabin...the name of our island is The Isle of Capri hence the sign that hangs under the fish....

Fallen leaves and a wonderful reflection....

A quiet spot to sit on the island....

Old cement steps to the cove and another spot to sit and contemplate life.....

Resident elf...this guy watches over things from a high spot on the island...


We are so fortunate to live in New England...the changing seasons provide us with so many beautiful things to see and experience each and every day....

Elizabeth

"Elegant Skeleton Centerpiece"

The glitter glue has dried and the bones look marvelous! This Martha Stewart craft project is so cool! To make pile a of bones and skulls look elegant is quite a transformation...because a skull is sort of creepy to begin with...but the glitter seems to take the creepiness away...

Had to do the glittering in two steps and let the bones dry overnight but it was well worth the time...I laid the bones on a bed of spaghnum moss and arranged the bones on a vintage glass dome covered pastry server. I think it looks great...we placed some bottles around with MS vintage looking labels and it just adds a little to the eye appeal.

Below are some photos of the finished project...my husband took all different angles trying to get the sparkle...

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Elizabeth

Autumn is Here

Well the air is chilly, the leaves are turning colors, the sun is brilliant, the daylight comes later and the evening is coming sooner...autumn is definitely here. Early morning temperatures have been in the upper 30's this week so yesterday I moved all the plants in the greenhouse...begonias, Boston fern, topiaries, agapanthus and agave to name a few....I was surprised the Christmas cactus was laden with big big pink buds...now in the greenhouse it will really push. I took a few pictures that show the garden is waning...perennials are dying back and shrubs are bearing berries for the birds to enjoy...grasses are going to seed and the birds love it. Squirrels are dashing about gathering acorns and bearing them everywhere. Even the Eastern White Pine tree's needles are turning yellow...one doesn't think about pines turning color in the fall but they do right along with the oaks, maples and all others.
I planted a few mums and flowering cabbage just to give a fall touch to the garden.
Pretty mum in an antique granite urn...there is a matching one on the other side of the bench. You can see that the oriental lilies are fading...I cut it back about 1/3 in August and soon I will cut it back more...
Look at these acorns...they are thick this year...we haven't had this many in years...sure makes the squirrels happy.

Another shot of the acorns...
Some cabbage and mini pumpkins mixed with the boxwood in the old cement urns....
The lily of the valley has gone to seed around the old oak tree...I never planted these flowers...they found their way here a few years ago and completely surrounded the base of the oak and look lovely as if planned to be there.
Wonderful toad lily plant...these are marvelous fall "gifts"...just when all else is going to sleep these flowers pop out...orchid like flowers line the branches and are a treat to look at.
Closer look at the toad lilies.

Blue hydrangeas turn the most gorgeous antique blue-green in the fall...this photo truly does not do this flower color justice...the white annabelle hydrangeas go to a mauve-green and are equally as lovely...

So autumn is here and it is a very welcome sight....

Elizabeth

Weekend Halloween Extravaganza

My niece Sandi and her husband Herbie spend the summer with their three children at a campground close to their home. They absolutely love to camp...they have camper and all the luxuries of home...while I have no desire to live a day like this I admire them. This particular campground is very geared to families with children. There is always something to do and the kids are busy all day long. How does life get any better for kids then to spend all day outside with family and friends running, playing, swimming and socializing. To provide your family with this kind of environment all summer long is the healthiest place a child can be physically and emotionally. I am sure it can get a bit antsy on a stretch of rainy days but they live close by so a hop skip and jump to get to home is the remedy one might need for this (I would think).

My sister Catherine loves to camp as well and has decided to go to the campground this weekend and spend three nights in a tent...to me this is only going downhill compared to a night in a camper with a bathroom like Sandie and Herbie have but she is doing it two nights alone...her husband will join her on Saturday. To get to the point...this weekend is the BIG no make that HUGE Halloween party.

Trick or treating starts at 4PM and ends at 5:30PM later there are organized activities at the community center...my sister Catherine expects to hand out 1,000 pieces of candy as Sandie told her to expect this...it is almost unimaginable to me but as much as I don't really do campgrounds how can I miss this...this is just to intriguing.

Of course I think a girl must decorate her tent and campsite so my husband and I will pack up the van with Halloween items and head to the campground. Below are some of the items we are gathering to take with us...I love Halloween items so I pulled "stuff" out and piled it up for the big day. Also downloaded a lot of spooky Halloween music on the iPod for added "atmosphere".

Some of the items needed to decorate Catherine's tent site.
More items...a big rubber bat with fangs, a mirror in one box that when you look in it you see yourself upside down, blinking red eye pirate heads to hang and lots of crepe paper fans, lanterns and balls.
The sign is Bethany Lowe who really does a great job with reproduction vintage Halloween signs, lighting and figurines.
The required pile of spiders, rats and bugs.
The vulture is ready and raring to go...

My newest acquisition...a fortune teller...the ball lights up with glowing colors...this piece is extremely well made...look at those nails and bony fingers.

So we are preparing for this weekend...it should be a blast...nothing like hundreds of kids dressed in costumes racing around looking to fill their bags with treats...

Elizabeth

Getting Ready for Halloween

Now is the time to get ready for Halloween. I was shopping at Michael's and found some great craft items in the Martha Stewart line. So I picked up the skeleton kit that can be glittered for an "elegant" eye appeal...Also picked up some labels and loads of items for cupcakes. This line is made to look like vintage items which makes it even better...as vintage Halloween is absolutely wonderful. Martha does know how to do it right...The glitter comes in a pack of three different complementing colors and the glue is included. Here I did a couple of bones and one of the skulls in the deeper green glitter. This glitter is so gorgeous...and the texture is silky to touch.
Another group of bones in a brighter green.
All the bones are done...included is another group of bones in a yellow gold. I left a few natural for a contrast...can't wait till they dry to arrange them.

Also picked up these great labels...I plan to cover the lids with foil and fill the bottles and jars with tonic water that is suppose to react to a black light...looking forward to completing this little project.

I will share a few more things later as we are preparing to attend a campground "spook" party this weekend...my sister has told me 1,000 that's right one thousand pieces of candy are needed...off to BJ's for the BIG bags...

Hold onto your pumpkins and ready your brooms...Halloween is coming!!!!!

Elizabeth

2nd Annual 10K Swim Challenge on the Pond September 28, 2008

Well the 10K Swim Challenge went off without a hitch! We had the honor and privilege of hosting the event at our place on the pond. The weather was cooperative in that there was no thunder and lightning...it did rain lightly most of the day but no wind. Swimmers and support crews started arriving around 7:30AM Sunday AM. Swimmers changed into their suits and kayaks were offloaded and readied to enter the water. The jet skis and float boat where in place as well as the fire/rescue boats to follow the course if needed. There were six swimmers this year to swim the 6.2 mile course. Ray Gandy the originator and organizer of the event swam the course as well. Saturday Ray placed the buoys along the course and got everything in order. Ray's wife Donna provided the refreshments for before and after the swim gatherings. Swimmers brought their own food for their "feedings" as they swam. The water was about 62 degrees. Below are pictures taken over the course of the day. Everyone was required to meet at 8AM to go over the course, receive instructions regards safety, go over the course route, ask questions and match swimmer with kayaker and address the support crew and their responsibilities. Ray Gandy lead the meeting. Ray is an experienced open water swimmer and won last year's challenge.
Catherine and Dori going over the course. Ray printed out maps of the route and everyone spent time making sure they understood the course. The pond has lots of inlets and coves so the route was important to understand before taking off. Dori is an experienced swimmer and crossed the English Channel this past August.

This is a picture of and Marcy and Becky. Becky is a long distance swimmer and loves to swim in the ocean. This day she was a kayaker and responsible for Marcy. Marcy is known as the American Queen of the English Channel...she swam the Channel 9 times an American record and did a double two times....this is absolutely amazing.
We used two vans to get everyone to the bridge. Our property is separated from the main pond by a low bridge. Ray's course started just on the other side of the bridge. We had over 10 inches of rain days before the swim and the kayaks could not get under the bridge...so swimmers were ferried to the start. In this van was clockwise Dori (yellow cap), Lori (pink cap), Ray (white cap) and Marcy (blue cap). In the other van was Seb and Mariah as well as supplies.

Here are the kayaks trying to get under the bridge...they tried hard but to no avail...so they took the kayaks out, carried them across the road and entered the pond there.Kayaks back in the water and swimmers preparing to start.

Swimmers hamming it up for the camera!

Support crew waiting for the start. Jet skis, kayaks, fire boat and float boat.

THE START! Swimmers entered the water and kayaks waited on the sides. Once swimmers had found a place in the water the person paired up with the swimmer got their kayak in place and stayed with that swimmer the entire course. In the kayak were food supplies to provide the swimmer with needed nutrition along the long course. The swimmer was not allowed to touch the kayak during feeding. So the kayaker had to get close to provide the food/drink.

THE WINNER! Sebastian Neumyer finished in first place with a time of 2:34:55. Sebastian is an experienced open water swimmer and hails from Cambridge Mass...he is an electrical engineer working on his doctorate at MIT.
Sebastian leaving the water with his personal kayak escort watching over him. Kayaking was an intense job. the responsibility of watching over the swimmer is extremely important...watching for signs of trouble if they arose.

This is one of the Fire and Safety boats on the pond during the course of the race.
Ray Gandy of Coventry finished at 2:35:35...
Ray was escorted by a jet ski during his swim.

Dori Miller of Boston, MA was the women's champion and finished at 2:37:15...

Dori exiting the water with her kayak escort still watching over her...there is definitely a bond between swimmer and escort which was evident especially after the finish. The escort bears a great deal of responsibility watching over the safety and feeding of the swimmer they are with on the course of the swim.

Marcy MacDonald and Becky in the kayak at the finish line.

Marcy MacDonald finished with a time of 2:41:25...

Mariah Alf of Cambridge, MA exiting the water with her personal escort making sure she is doing ok after her swim...
Mariah finished with a time of 2:50:30...this was her first year to do this course.

The float boat followed the course and was the official time keeper and recorder as well.Lori Pugh finished with a time of 3:04:15...this was also her first time to do this course. Lori just recently did the Chesapeake Bay swim.
Lori and Thor at the finish line.

Mariah admiring her trophy.

Dori looking over her trophy.

Two of the jet ski escorts watching the Awards Ceremony.

Group picture of all involved with the swim...
a great group of athletes and volunteers....